BLUE vs WHITE REGISTRATION NUMBERS

[pfarber]

Continuing on...

I found a 15Feb1945 AR850-5 and -10 that state that the registration number should be WHITE from the factory.

Will update with cites soon.

[pfarber]

I'm gonna list some other sources of the 'WHITE FROM THE FACTORY" sources... I'm not going to drop $30 on a TM when I already know what it says. These sources are pretty much considered subject experts.. these are what peers are calling them.

First:

http://rdrnl.home.xs4all.nl/4UWPStencils.html

When Jeeps left the factory they were lined up outside and the numbers were painted in the sequence of how they were parked. The numbers on the hood were painted in a blue drab colour. At the beginning of 1945 this was changed to white, but still only in one factory * style.



Note this is an assembled jeep, the registration number is on the windshield chalk. Thats white paint.

[pfarber]

From a thread on CCKW.org

Postby Kees51 » Tue Nov 07, 2006 2:30 pm
I forgot to look in the obvious place. Exerpts of a manual on vehicle markings are right here on the cckw.org site, in the Bumper Numbers page under the Techical Info tab. There are pages from the AR 850-5 manual of August 6, 1942 and pages of the AR 850-5 manual of February 15, 1945.

The 1942 manual says about the registration markings: "The markings on the vehicle will be with blue-drab lusterless enamel by means of a stencil."

The 1945 manual says about the registration markings: "Registration markings will be applied with approved white lusterless, stenciling, synthetic enamel."

So it seems they ceased to worry about being photographed from the air.


So it seems that at least one other person has found the 45 AR850

[pfarber]

Standard catalog of U.S. military vehicles by D. Doyle:

ddbd.JPG (39.07 KiB) Viewed 14413 times

[pfarber]

Even jeepdraw agrees!

REGISTRATION NUMBERS (HOOD NUMBERS) (WILLYS MB (Army) ) 2" High Blue Drab Numbers and letters until Mid 1945. White was used in the last contract

http://jeepdraw.com/PART_COLOURS.htm

[pfarber]

Everyone seems to hold up the jeep as the best counterpoint for the 15Feb45 AR seemingly not going into effect.

What I can find from reading is that:

Ford Motor Company was very hard to deal with.
Ford GPWs (not sure about MB's) were done on 'cost plus' so Ford got whatever the jeep cost to make plus about $50 profit. Every little change to the jeep required a new recalculation to the base price. So the War Dept may not have asked Ford to make the change, because the cost involved to even figure out what the jeep would cost with white vs blue paint.
MB's apparently DID switch to white registration numbers FROM THE FACTORY.

I really don't want to mix other manufacturers into the discussion of the white hood numbers for CCKWs, I'd rather just answer two things:

WHEN (or what DATE) did they switch to white.
WHICH TRUCK (frame SN#) does that start with.

Few official CCKW TMs care out in 45. The TM9-801's were April 1944, TM9-1801 was March 1944. The ORD-9 SNL-G-508 came out in July 1945, but there are no pictures.

[pfarber]

This is just a notice that appeared in the current manual listing that Army Motors published:

arlist.JPG (11.17 KiB) Viewed 14379 times

And it needs to be clarified.. the AR-850-5 Equipment, Clothing and Vehicle Markings does say that registration numbers must be white... it has always said white. That's not my point.

My point is that the 15Feb45 AR850-10 Vehicle Registration says that, in no uncertain terms, that the registration number must be lusterless white FROM THE MANUFACTURER.

And I've shown lots of proof that it was changed.

[pfarber]

Seems I may be 4-5 years late...

http://www.cckw.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1588

Postby Kees51 » Tue Nov 07, 2006 2:30 pm
I forgot to look in the obvious place. Exerpts of a manual on vehicle markings are right here on the cckw.org site, in the Bumper Numbers page under the Techical Info tab. There are pages from the AR 850-5 manual of August 6, 1942 and pages of the AR 850-5 manual of February 15, 1945.

The 1942 manual says about the registration markings: "The markings on the vehicle will be with blue-drab lusterless enamel by means of a stencil."

The 1945 manual says about the registration markings: "Registration markings will be applied with approved white lusterless, stenciling, synthetic enamel."

So it seems they ceased to worry about being photographed from the air.

So now that we have two party verification... anyone care to disagree???